Thomas hipwell



(No Modem T HIPWELL LAMP HOLDING RING.

No. 499,386. PatentedJune 1a, 1893. I

UNITED STATES THOMAS HIPWELL, OF LONG ISLAND CITY, ASSlGN-OR TO THE MANHATTAN BRASS COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LAMP-HOLDING RING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Iatent No. 499,386, dated June 13, 1893.

Application filed February 27, 1893. Serial No. 463,809. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS HIPWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Island City, (Astoria,) in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented an Iniprovement in Lamp-Holding Rings, of which the following is a specification.

Expansible rings have heretofore been made use of, either upon a bracket or sus piece and slot the same for the introduction through the slot of a strip of metal notched to form a catch, so that the thumb piece holds against the catch when the ring is contracted, and the end of the band near the thumb piece is guided by a connection to the other end of the band so that the parts cannot become separated.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the ring in its expanded condition. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the ends of the ring showing the thumb piece and catch in larger size. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2 with the ring expanded, and Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modification.

The ring A is of any suitable size adapted to the lamp that is to be supported by it, and this ring may either be supported upon a bracket or suspended by wires or a harp connected with the ears B B that are permanently fastened at opposite sides of the ring.

The ends of the ring lap one upon the other and the end portion 1 can slide against or upon the other end portion 2, and any suitable device may be employed as a guide for the part 1 as it slides upon the surface of the part 2, such for instance as a strap or straps a upon one part passing around or partially around the other part, but I prefer to employ i a slot 3 in the end portion 1 of the ring receiving a stud or pin 4 upon'the end portion 2 of the ring, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the extreme end portion 1 of the ring is turned outwardly to form the thumb piece 5 against which the thumb or finger can be pressed in the same around the lamp, and it is advantageoirs to locate the ear B in such a position in relation to this thumb piece 5 that the finis applied to the piece 5 to either contract the ring around the lamp or to separate the thumb piece from the guide to allow the ring to open by its own expansive action.

The catch 0 is formed as a plate with an incline 6 and a notch 7, and it is advantageous to make the ear B a part of this plate and the plate is bent with an offset so that there is a free space between the end portion 2 of the ring A, and the plate forming the catch 0 in' which the end portion 1 of the ring can slide freely, and there is a notch cut in the lower. part of the thumb-piece 5 forming a slot wide enough for the thickness of the plate forming the catch 0, so that the thumb piece can be moved freely along the plate forming the catch 0, and the thumb piece passes up the incline 6 and catches down behind the projection adjacent to the notch 7 when the ring is contracted around the lamp. It will now be apparent that the parts are very strong; that they are easily constructed and the weight of the lamp tends to press the thumb piece 5 down into the notch 7 and the ring cannot be expanded to allow the lamp to be removed downwardly until the thumb piece 5 has been lifted sufiiciently to clear the same from the catch 0, hence there is no risk of the lamp dropping when in use, and to liberate the lamp it is only necessary to lift the same slightly with one hand and with the other hand to apply the thumb and finger to the ear B and thumb piece 5 respectively and lift the thumb piece to clear the same from the catch 0, and the resilience of the ring will cause the same to open, the part 1 of the ring sliding against the part 2 of the ring and through the connection be tween the two parts which is represented as the stud 4 in the slot 3, said stud 4 passing gers can rest against the ear B as the thumb drawing the ring together so as to contract through the end of the plate forming the upon the other end and is provided with an catch 0. outwardly turned and notched thumb piece, I 5

I claim as my inventionof a plate having an incline and notch form- 1. An expansible ring forming a lamp suping a catch and an outwardly turned ear per- 5 port, one end of the ring sliding upon the manently fastened to the lamp ring and other end of the ring and having an outadapted to receive the suspending Wires or wardly turned thumb piece slotted upon its harp, substantially as set forth. :0 lower side, and a stationary catch fastened to Signed by me this 23d day of February, 1893. the ring near the other end thereof and pass- 10 ing through the slot of the thumb piece, sub- THOMAS HIPWELL.

stantially as set forth. Witnesses:

2. The combination with the expansible J. H. WHITE,

lamp supporting ring, one end of which slides WM. H. WOODHULL, 

